Prior patents disclose a single housing having a machined shoulder and machined axial passage for receiving an electrical conductor and for receiving a plurality of fine wires having tapered or angled surfaces at their ends. For example, the U.S. patent of McKeown et al, U.S. Pat. No 3,725,844 issued Apr. 3, 1973 and assigned to the assignee of the present application and which is hereby incorporated herein by reference, discloses a crimp type brush contact which is machined as a one-piece brass part. Generally, electrical contacts are machined from metal stock and because of their small size the contacts are machined to tolerances of 0.002 inches or less. A contact which is oversized for any reason cannot be utilized because it may not be possible to insert such a contact into the contact receiving holes of a connector insert or insufficient clearance between adjacent contacts may cause electrical or mechanical problems.
Machining of electrical contacts is expensive and because of the large number of small contacts utilized by a particular electrical connector, the connector is expensive. One way to reduce the cost of manufacturing the connector and at the same time provide an electrical contact that provides a secure mechanical and electrical connection when a wire is crimped to the contact is to make an electrical contact by stamping and rolling (forming) electrical contacts from a sheet of metal. The U.S. patent of Waldron et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,072,394 issued Feb. 7, 1978 and assigned to the assignee of the present application and which is hereby incorporated herein by reference, discloses a three-piece electrical contact assembly which includes an inner sleeve and first and second outer sleeves telescopically located over the front and rear portions of the inner sleeve.
Generally each of the contacts within a connector assembly is removable so that it may be connected, for example, by crimping to an incoming wire when electronic equipment is installed. Ordinarily, each of the incoming wires to the connector is attached to its respective contact by inserting the electrical wire into an axial opening machined in one end of the contact and then crimping the contact to the wire to obtain an electrical and mechanical connection. The crimping operation is performed by a well-known plier type tool that, when squeezed, applies pressure simultaneously to two pairs of diametrically opposed points in a circumference of the contact to form the contact into the wire in the contact. After the crimping operation, each of the contacts is inserted into the connector assembly where they are retained by a contact retention mechanism.
The present invention is also related to the invention disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 948,112 entitled "Electrical Contact For An Electrical Connector", filed in September of 1978. The patent application discloses an electrical contact including a first body piece, a plurality of axially aligned wires and a sleeve piece mounted on the body piece at its forward end and crimped in place. The wall portion of the body piece is cut off and bent inward to provide a rear stop for the wire. The forward end of an inserted conductor contacts a rear face of the wall portion and thereafter the body piece and the conductor are crimped together.